Sunday 14 June 2015

1971, Belgian Comics: “Natasja”

In 1971 the first "Natasja" (French: "Natacha") album, "Natasja, luchtstewardess" (Original title: "Natacha, hôtesse de l'air") is published by Dupuis. The series was created by François Walthéry (drawings) and Gos (Roland Goossens) (story). The character was created by Walthéry in 1965 partly based on Mireille Darc, France Gall, and Dany Carrel. Due to censorship, more specifically the explicitly female forms of Natacha, the first story was only published five years later in 1970 in the Belgian comics magazine Spirou/Robbedoes.

No 1 "Natasja, luchtstewardess"
  • full-colour
  • never published in English
  • story by Gos (Roland Goossens) and drawings by François Walthéry
  • Original French title: "Natacha, hôtesse de l'air"
No 1 "Natasja, luchtstewardess" (Original title: "Natacha, hôtesse de l'air")
Synopsis
Natasja is the stewardess on a special chartered flight. On the flight are a South American football team, two boxes of toys and two gold crates. It soon becomes clear that the real footballers stayed on the ground and that impostors took their place. The flight is diverted to an equatorial island...
Natasja and Walter
The Co-Pilot (left) and The Pilot (right)
The gangsters, Natasja and Walter
Natasja and the headhunters
Walthéry partly based Natasja on Mireille Darc, France Gall and Dany Carrel
Cars
  • Fiat 850 Spider
  • Citroën DS
  • Volkswagen 1200 (Beetle)
  • unidentified mini-bus, the drawing was probably based on the Renault Estafette
  • unidentified American car
Fiat 850 Spider
Citroën DS, Fiat 850 Spider and Volkswagen 1200 (Beetle)
Unidentified mini-bus, the drawing was probably based on the Renault Estafette
Unidentified American car
Aeroplanes
  • Douglas DC-3 (OWN)
Douglas DC-3

Saturday 6 June 2015

1970, Deaths: American singer Tammi Terrell dies aged 24

On March 16th 1970, American Motown artist Tammi Terrell died, she was only 24 years old. Tammi Terrell was born as Thomasina Winifred Montgomery on April 29, 1945. She was the older of 2 children born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Thomas Montgomery and Jennie Graham. She lived with her parents at 1327 W. York Street, where her father operated a barber shop.

After graduating from Germantown High School, Thomasina entered the University of Pennsylvania and majored in psychology for two years, but left college to enter the music business. She recorded two solo singles for the Scepter/Wand label as Tammy Montgomery. Both singles released in 1961, "If You See Bill", and "Voice of Experience", failed to chart. Afterwards she performed in 1962 at the Rip Tide in Wildwood, New York, with Steve Gibson and the Redcaps. In 1963 she performed with James Brown and released the single "I Cried". Next she signed with Checker Records' label, releasing one single, "If I Would Marry You".
Tammi Terrell and Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
In 1965 she signed with Motown Records. During this period she changed her name from Tammi Montgomery to the more "catchy" Tammi Terrell, scoring a couple of Top 30 singles in 1966: "I Can't Believe You Love Me" and "Come on and See Me".
Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
Tammi Terrell and Marvin Gaye
In 1967 she met Marvin Gaye and they recorded duets including "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Your Precious Love". That fall while they sang "Your Precious Love" onstage at Ogden Hall at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, she collapsed into Marvin's arms. She was promptly hospitalised and was later diagnosed with brain cancer. Terrell would undergo eight separate operations over the next three years for cancer; suffering from memory loss and blindness, she became too sick to sing. Tammi Terrell was buried in Mount Lawn Cemetery in Philadelphia. Marvin Gaye was devastated by her death. He took a long hiatus from live performances...


Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell: "Ain't no Mountain High Enough" (1967)
Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell: "Your Precious Love" (1969)

Wednesday 3 June 2015

1969, Car Spotting: Place de la Concorde, Paris

Photo by Robert Doisneau (1912 - 1994), from front to back:

Morris 1100/1300, Renault 8, Peugeot 204, Triumph TR6, Simca 1100, Peugeot 404, Peugeot 504, Opel Olympia, Renault Dauphine, Simca 1300/1500, Peugeot 403, Fiat 850, Autobianchi Primula, Peugeot 404, Daf 55 Coupé, MG 1100/1300, Peugeot 404 familiale, Peugeot 404 familiale, Renault 4, Simca 1300/1500, Citroën DS, Simca Aronde, Volkswagen 1200/1300 (Beetle), Citroën 2CV, Peugeot 404, Citroën DS, Citroën Ami 6, Fiat 1800/2100 ??